Fake girl profile snares Telford paedophile, 37

Russell Williams sent the messages on KikFriender to a girl he thought was from Wolverhampton, Shrewsbury Crown Court heard.

But the profile was fake and the 37-year-old, of Bembridge, in Brookside, was actually sending the messages to an undercover police officer carrying out an operation for West Midlands Police.

Mr Myles Wilson, prosecuting, said the fake 12-year-old girl’s profile had been created in October last year and Williams made contact with it in November.

Mr Wilson said: “Over three weeks the prosecution say there was clear grooming behaviour from the defendant as the content of their discussions became more and more sexual.”

He said Williams had immediately admitted his real age and became friendly, telling her she was ‘pretty’, that she could trust him and not to tell anybody else.

Mr Wilson said Williams talked about kissing and hugging her, which progressed to other sexual references.

Mr Wilson said: “He talks about how he would be her secret boyfriend and one day her real boyfriend.”

The court was told he also attempted to encourage her to commit a sexual act.

The contact ended after Williams attempted to arrange a meeting, but backed out.

Searches

Police were able to trace Williams through his online profile and he was arrested, with officers seizing laptops and mobile phones from him.

On the devices, they found more than 1,000 indecent images of children - from the least to the most serious kind.

Mr Wilson said police also found a lot of searches for illegal material on underage children.

The court was told that Williams immediately admitted what he had done and said he felt relieved he had been caught.

At a previous hearing, he admitted attempting to cause or incite a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity; attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child; three counts of making indecent images of children through downloading them and two counts of possessing a prohibited image of a child.

Ms Debra White, defending, said Williams was a shy, lonely and isolated individual who suffers from anxiety and depression.

She said: “He shows genuine shame and remorse from the very outset.

“He expressed his relief at being discovered.

“That’s not the case for many cases that come before this court.”

She said there had only been one indecent image of the most serious kind and it had been deleted.

Recorder Adrian Jack said it was true that following the death of his father, Williams had suffered from depression, but it did not excuse his behaviour.

He handed Williams a two-year prison sentence, suspended for two years.

Williams was also given a rehabilitation activity requirement of 40 days, he will have to carry out 200 hours unpaid work and pay £1,000 costs.

He will also have to abide by the terms of a sexual harm prevention order for five years and remain on the Sexual Offenders Register for 10 years.